IIT AND KOTA

A study done by a private firm has ranked IIT-Madras as the leader in faculty awards for rese­arch activities. Zinnov, a globalisation and market expansion advisory firm, on Friday released its latest study titled “Top research faculty in tier-1 engineering institutions in India”. According to the study, IIT-Madras emerged as the overall leader in bagging top awards for its faculty research with about 15 coveted achievements and awards like IEEE fellowship and Bhatnagar awards; over 60 international awards and fellowships including Humboldt fellowship, grants from multi national companies; and more than 40 national awards and fellowships. This study includes a detailed assessment of faculty in India’s tier-I engineering institutions and also identified top faculty by their areas of research. The Indian Institute of Science (IIS­C), followed by IIT-Kanpur and IIT-Delhi, emerged as the top institutes for faculty rese­arch competence in India. The faculty in these institutes h

If Massachusetts Institute of Technology's entrepreneurship competition is the world's largest business plan contest, IIT-Bombay's 'Eureka' could well be India's answer to it. The annual international business competition of IIT-B has this year received over 100 entries from the US, Japan, Australia, Ireland, UAE, Singapore, Nigeria, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh among others, up from 45 last year. Overall, 5,800 entries will vie for a prize money of Rs 45 lakh. The event will be held in February next year. "We expect the number of entries to cross 6,000 by the time registrations close on October 8. Last year, the total number of participants were 5,300. The stakes go higher each year and the variety and number of foreign entries are a testimony to it. In 2010, there were only 20 international registrations. Eureka has consistently maintained good quality over the years and the fact that it is located in the commercial capital of India

After the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) results, coaching classes get busy spinning success stories. Each student who makes it to the hallowed Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) may just be reduced to a rank, but it is their golden ticket to netting more candidates for admission. But information collected by the tech colleges reveals that close to half of those who make their mark in the entrance test prepare for the exam on their own. The IITs ask every student who takes the JEE whether he/she prepared for the test "on his own or via other methods", which, in short, covers all sorts of coaching provided. This includes classroom series, distance learning, referring to tutorial notes or appearing for mock tests. Candidates are also informed that their selection would be based on the marks they have scored, irrespective of their preparation method. Data provided by candidates shows that about 50% students said they studied on their own. Their share has altered over the yea

The second convocation of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Banaras Hindu University (BHU) will be held on November 9 at Swatantrata Bhawan, BHU. Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India, Dr M Mangalpati Pallam Raju will be the chief guest on the occasion. Water conservationist Dr Rajendra Singh will also be present as special guest on the occasion. The rehearsal of the convocation ceremony will be held on November 8. Free check up: On the occasion of World Mental Week (October 3 to October 10), department of psychiatry, Institute of Medical Sciences ( IMS), Banaras Hindu University (BHU) is organising a free of cost mental check up from October 4 to October 10 in psychiatry department.

The answer booklets of the IIT joint entrance exam (advanced) this year have thrown up a worrisome trend: the maximum questions unanswered were from mathematics. Perhaps as a consequence, the highest overall score for JEE-2013 stood at 332 of 360. At 92.2%, it is quite a slide from last year's 96%. The lowest mark scored this year is minus 70. With quantitative skills - involving using or manipulating numbers; the ability to reason using numbers - an absolute essential in the country's top tech schools, there is a feeling that math should be accorded priority in the testing process. Now, the JEE (advanced) comprises of two papers with questions from physics, chemistry and math, in that order. "Considering the fact that quantitative skills are an extremely important component of the testing process, it is proposed to change this order to mathematics, followed by physics and then chemistry," said the IIT-JEE (advanced) 2013 report. "We have noticed

Panjab University has for the first time broken into the top 400 club in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2013-14, well ahead of the four IITs. Last year, only two Indian institutes made it to the top 400. Making its debut in the elite club, Panjab University joins the group of universities ranked between 226 and 250, putting it way ahead of its closest Indian rival IIT Delhi, which is in the 351-400 group. The other new entrant, besides these two, is IIT Kanpur, which falls in the 351-400 band. The other two Indian institutes are IIT Kharagpur, which has slipped from 226-250 to the 351-400 group, and IIT Roorkee, which stays, like last year, in the 351-400 bracket. "Though the IITs have done well in certain disciplines in other earlier rankings, neither the IITs nor the IIMs are multi-disciplinary institutes. However, that's no excuse to slip up in these rankings. IITs need to do better by focusing on aspects like research output," s

Ahead of its annual college festival, the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, (IIT-B) seems to be making all the right moves and waves. Almost a month after it roped in popular American band, the Neal Morse Band, to perform at Mood Indigo in December 2013, the institute has added another feather to its cap. The band will use a poster designed by IIT-B students as their official band picture from now on. The band features Mike Portnoy, one of the world’s best-known drummers. Headlining for this year’s band event at Mood Indigo, the Livewire Nite on December 20, it is the American progressive rock band’s first tour to Asia. The third-year energy science and engineering student, who is the brain behind the artwork, Mayuresh Patole, said, “When we invite artistes to perform, we ask them to send the creatives that they would want us to use for the promotions we do for the fest. However, when we contacted the band’s brand manager, he said we are free to use whatever we like.”

I am a 16-year-old-student, about to begin class XII, and I'm preparing for all the engineering entrance exams for 2013. I have been sure of my career choice for nearly four years now, and have always enjoyed learning and building my knowledge. Here is my opinion on the change in the IIT entrance pattern, as well as the years that build up to taking these examinations. The Indian Institutes of Technology are India's pride, the apple of the Indian eye. They are revered for the standards they have set for Indian education. Respect is synonymous with IIT, because every Indian knows the levels of effort put in, and knowledge attained, by individuals who make it to the IITs.  Today, we are talking of changing the system of selecting students who deserve to enter these institutes. We are debating and shouting and screaming and slamming. Slamming each other, the government, the ministries, the school education system, and the coaching classes. And in a gigantic oversight, we have fa

A robot with caterpillar legs which lifts up its body, a four-legged robot which has better balance over the rough terrains and another with a C-shaped legs which can move around easily are some of the ideas for a possible lunar rover to be designed by the students of IIT-Madras . As many as 38 teams presented their robotic prototypes for the preliminary round of 'Lunar Rover Challenge' on Sunday. The 'Lunar Rover Challenge' will be an event at the at annual Shaastra technological festival to be held in January. Five teams will be selected who will compete with teams from other countries for the Google Lunar X Prize in April. The teams were asked to come up with a concept for a lunar rover which can descend from the 45 ramp of a lunar shuttle and negotiate the rough and bumpy terrain of the moon. The robot should be designed in a way that it can manoeuvre the craters on the moon. With the safety light switched on, it has to cover a distance of 500 metre

There has been a call to make Mathematics the first section in the JEE (Advanced) exam as students did not score well in this section. Mathematics is currently the last section in the exam. An  IIT-JEE  (advanced) report suggested Mathematics should be followed by Physics and Chemistry. Reports claimed that students had left out the maximum number of questions in Mathematics leading to concerns as numerical abilities are very important in Engineering. JEE (Advanced) has negative marking. One and a half lakh students who had qualified from JEE (Mains) sat for the exam. Here is an analysis of JEE (Advanced) 2013: Marks analysis Total marks: 360 Highest mark: 332 Lowest mark: minus 70 Number of students scoring over 300 marks: 23 Number of students scoring over 250 marks: 326 Students taking IIT-JEE for the first time Percentage of students who took JEE for the first time in 2013: 69.6% Percentage of students who took JEE for the first time in 2012: 80% Institute choice

What is exam anxiety? Exam anxiety is: excessive worry about upcoming exams fear of being evaluated apprehension about the consequences experienced by many normal students not mysterious or difficult to understand manageable by following a plan of helpful suggestions There are  four main areas  which can contribute to your exam anxiety: lifestyle issues information needs studying styles psychological factors Lifestyle issues  that can contribute to exam anxiety are: inadequate rest poor nutrition too many stimulants insufficient exercise not scheduling available time not prioritising commitments Information needs  that can contribute to exam anxiety are: exam-taking strategies academic information such as course requirements, lecturers' expectations, exam dates and testing location knowledge of how to apply anxiety reduction techniques while studying before an exam Studying styles  that are: Inefficient: inconsistent content coverage; tryi

The Joint Entrance Exam (Advanced) is all set to cost more. The reason for the increase is due to increase in application fees for all candidates. Fees according to various categories : Male general candidates- Rs, 2000 Other Backward Castes (OBC) - Rs 2,000 The fee has been hiked by Rs 200. IIT-JEE 2014: 5 smart strategies for serious students Scheduled caste, scheduled tribes and physically challenged aspirants -Rs 1,000.  There has been an increase of Rs 100. Those taking the test in Dubai will have to pay US$220 . The earlier fee for taking the test was US$200.   However, female candidates will not be charged for the test.  IIT-JEE Advanced 2014 will be held on May 25. The JEE-Main will be conducted on April 6 2014. IIT-JEE advanced 2014 aspirants will now have to give the entrance exam only in paper pen format. There will be no computer based JEE-advanced 2014.